Reading Eagle: Lauren A. Little | Carol Anne Donohoe, a Reading-based immigration attorney, talks about immigration and the detention of families at the Berks County Residential Center in Bern Township. She spoke Wednesday morning during a presentation to the World Affairs Council of Greater Reading at the Wyomissing Family Restaurant.

Reading Eagle: Lauren A. Little | Carol Anne Donohoe, a Reading-based immigration attorney, talks about immigration and the detention of families at the Berks County Residential Center in Bern Township. She spoke Wednesday morning during a presentation to the World Affairs Council of Greater Reading at the Wyomissing Family Restaurant.

Reading Eagle: Lauren A. Little | Carol Anne Donohoe, a Reading-based immigration attorney, talks about immigration and the detention of families at the Berks County Residential Center in Bern Township. She spoke Wednesday morning during a presentation to the World Affairs Council of Greater Reading at the Wyomissing Family Restaurant.

Reading-based immigration attorney talks about family detention at center in Bern Township

People learned about Berks County's role in national immigration policy at a talk Wednesday in Wyomissing.

Reading-based immigration attorney Carol Anne Donohoe shared with the World Affairs Council of Greater Reading her experiences representing asylum-seeking immigrant families detained in Berks.The council, a nonprofit and nonpartisan group that examines international affairs, hosted more than 50 people at the Wyomissing Family Restaurant for the breakfast presentation.Donohoe's discussion focused on family detention at the Berks County Residential Center in Bern Township."My work every day is with these mothers and children; if I'm not with them in person, they are in my head, in my heart and in my words," said Donohoe, who is also the president of the Greater Reading Immigration Project. "So that is where I am coming from, and I can say that these families should not be detained."The center is one of the nation's three detention centers for families seeking asylum; the other two are in Texas.The county has a contract with U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement under which the county pays for staff and operation of the facility.Donohoe, along with two other local immigration attorneys, won an award last year from the Pennsylvania Bar Association for pro bono work for families at the center.Almost all the families are fleeing Central America, which the United Nations calls one of the world's bloodiest and most violent regions.She condemned the policy of detaining children - including infants - and the practice of housing children in bedrooms with unrelated, unfamiliar adults.Earlier this year, the state Department of Human Services said the detention of families at the center was not in line with its state-issued license to house children.The department revoked and denied renewal of the center's license in February.The center and the county appealed, and the center continues to operate as the license issue is decided in DHS hearings.Donohoe offered anecdotes that she said highlighted the unfair and arbitrary application of family detention.One example was of a family of four separated at the Mexican border as they entered the U.S. The father and son were stopped by border agents and claimed they were seeking asylum from violence in their home county in Central America. She said they were quickly released and able to join family in New Jersey.The mother and baby were apprehended and ended up spending months in family detention, although they fled the same situation, Donohoe said.She also emphasized families crossing the border looking for asylum, though they may not have documentation to enter the country, are not doing so illegally."These families are not illegal, no matter how often they use the word," Donohoe said. "Under asylum law, they have to be in the country where they are seeking asylum."Donohoe also noted the federal government reimburses the county and also pays the county about an additional $1.3 million for leasing offices in the building."So I ask: Do we in Berks County, do we in Pennsylvania, want to be in the business of imprisoning children?" she said.Donohoe also said that if the center were to close, every family there has relatives to go to or an organization to take them in while they go through asylum hearings.Nevin Hollinger, outgoing president of the World Affairs Council, said the presentation was eye-opening, especially given the county's role."A portion of the responsibility rests on the decision-making of local leaders," Hollinger said. "It appears to be an issue of importance that needs to be addressed."The county commissioners rarely comment about the center, but all three stated support for the facility in their re-election bids last year. Local clergy have recently been attending commissioners meetings to urge the county to close the center.Retired pastor David Kistler, 83, of Topton said the talk will prompt him to contact elected officials as well as work with other clergy opposed to family detention."I thought it was excellent to just have this explained in detail," Kistler said. "This policy of the Obama administration to stop the flow of migration is horrible."Contact Anthony Orozco: 610-371-5015 or aorozco@readingeagle.com.